capclave

Convention-plus-plus fornight

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Yep, this weekend I’m back on the road for another science fiction convention. This time, it’s Capclave, in Rockville, Maryland. If you’re looking for me at the convention (as usual), look for me in the dealers’ room at the Fantastic Books table. The dealers’ room is scheduled to be open from 3 to 6pm on Friday, 10am to 6pm on Saturday, and 10am to 2pm on Sunday.

I’ll also be on programming. Check out:

“Grammar Wars and Pedantry” on Saturday at 1pm in Washington Theater. With K. Ceres Wright, Mary G. Thompson, Morgan Hazelwood, and Sarah Avery. If arguments over the serial comma, split infinitives, or the evolving definition of “literally” gets you riled up, then this is a conversation for you. Panelists discuss their favorite pedantic hills to die on and whether language is evolving too quickly or too slowly for their liking.

“In Defense of the Standalone Novel” on Saturday at 2:30pm in Washington Theater. With A.C. Wise, Craig Laurance Gidney, Irene Gallo, Natalie Luhrs, and Ursula Vernon. In a sea of book series, the standalone novel can be a breath of fresh air. What are the virtues of the standalone novel and what makes for a good one? Might there be a resurgence of the standalone novel in the near future?

As much as I love going to sf conventions, that seems almost a distraction to me at the moment. That’s because there’s a much bigger trip coming very soon.

A few days ago, the Chairman of American Mensa resigned. I’ve been serving the organization as Secretary since last summer, and continue in that position. But I’ve also been an alternate for our national representatives. With the resignation, I move up from alternate to one of the national representatives. And in a bit of calendrical synchrony, the next annual international board of directors meeting (which I’ll be attending in my new role) is October 6–9 in Budva, Montenegro. So I’ve spent this week in a frantic planning for my first international trip this millennium, and my first ever trip out of North America.

I’m pretty much booked from departure here to the end of the meeting and my departure from Montenegro. But on my way home, I’ve got a lay-over in Vienna, Austria. I’m scheduled to land there on Monday, October 10, at 4:20pm. My flight home from Vienna is scheduled to depart on Tuesday, October 11, at 4:30pm. So (other than extra hours in the airport coming and going), I’m going to have most of a day in Vienna (well, other than probably sleeping a few hours at night). Do I know anyone there, or anyone who has been there, who has wonderful suggestions for what to do in those few hours so I can really get a feel for having been there?

In Montenegro, the host group has planned a tour or two, so I’ll get at least a little flavor of the country outside the meeting hotel, but in Vienna, I’m on my own. I’m very excited, and a little trepidatious. Looking for suggestions.

TR on the world’s royalty

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26rooseveltSorry I haven’t posted recently. The trip to Capclave was an odd mix of familiar and strange, comfortable and not. The convention was a little smaller than usual, and pretty much what I expected, but it was good to get out among people again. Especially since the convention required all attendees to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and to wear masks. So I think I’m ready for the upcoming conventions, including Philcon and WorldCon.

Completely unrelated to that, a friend pointed out this link to me, American Heritage‘s 1954 publication of a letter Theodore Roosevelt wrote in 1911, detailing his experiences representing the United States at the funeral of King Edward VII in 1910. It’s a fascinating look at the world’s leaders at that time. And though it seems like he talks about everyone who was there, apparently there were far more people there (as detailed in this Wikipedia article). It was the last gathering of the world’s royalty before World War I, which wound up deposing many of them and shifting their countries forms of government away from royalty.

I also, particularly, like TR’s comment in the second paragraph, that “you doubtless remember Cloudberry’s remark, of which I am so fond, about ‘the infinite capacity of the human brain to withstand the introduction of knowledge.'” Now I’ll have to figure out who Cloudberry was, and find the actual remark.

Trepidatiously returning to the convention scene

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It occurs to me that, in the before-times, when I had a scheduled convention upcoming, I would tell my followers about it: where I was going to be and when, in case any of my stalkers were interested in seeing me in person. The last convention I attended was Arisia in January 2020 (there was also a Mensa Gathering, Snowball, in March 2020). Well, I’m fully vaccinated, and the convention is requiring all attendees to be vaccinated, so I’m going to take my first steps out into the world next weekend at Capclave (https://www.capclave.org/capclave/capclave21/), a science fiction convention in Rockville, Maryland. I’ll be spending a lot of time at the Fantastic Books table in the dealers’ room (there are a bunch of new books to show since the last convention), which is open Friday from 3 to 6pm, Saturday from 10am to 6pm, and Sunday from 10am to 2pm. In addition to that, I’ll be on several panels, all of which are scheduled for the Truman room:

Friday at 6:00 pm: “Seductive Evils” with Martin Berman-Gorvine, Carolyn Ives Gilman, and Larry Hodges

Friday at 8:00 pm: “Why the Bumbling Sidekick?” with Suzanne Palmer, Karlo Yeager Rodriguez, and Hildy Silverman

Saturday at 5:00 pm: “Power and Social Structures” with Carolyn Ives Gilman, Darrell Schweitzer, Caias Ward, and A.C. Wise

Saturday at 11:00 pm: “Eye of Argon” with Walter H. Hunt, Hildy Silverman, and Michael A. Ventrella (unplanned, it’s an all-Fantastic Books authors event)

I hope to see a bunch of you there, to help me reintegrate with society (at least, as much of “society” as one might find at a science fiction convention).